marine photography Archives - ETB Travel Photography

Select Fridays will now feature a photographer and photo. Congratulations to Colin for being the first!

Featured “Fotographer”: Colin Hocking

Background: I met Colin on trip to the Bahamas through my vacation club. Colin has been involved in photography for over 35 years after gaining his BSC Hons in Photographic Science. Currently he works as a freelance photographer, educator and workshop/tour leader. He founded the Ballantyne Photography Club, is on the board of the Charlotte Camera Club, and is an active member of the PPA and NANPA. He also leads photography trips. Check out his workshop on Merritt Island in April here.

Image Title: Life’s a Breach

Location: Maui, HI

Fun Fact: It is thought that Humpback whales, like the bottlenose dolphin, shuts down only half of its brain, along with the opposite eye while sleeping. The other half of the brain stays awake at a low level of alertness. This attentive side is used to watch for predators, obstacles and other animals. It also signals when to rise to the surface for a fresh breath of air so that they don’t drown while sleeping. After approximately two hours, the animal will reverse this process, resting the active side of the brain and awaking the rested half.

Continue reading “Feature Foto Friday: Life’s a Breach” →

Traveling to Sosua

After one heck of a day of travel, we finally reached Sosua, Dominican Republic after 11pm at night. I actually started my travels on Wednesday, made a short stop in Dallas to see my family, and left for DFW with my friend Rootie at 6 in the morning. After connecting in Tampa and Miami, we eventually landed in Santiago around 9. Santiago, unfortunately is a two hour cab ride from Sosua! We normally would have flown into Puerto Plata, but the airline connections were even worse!

The people here are extremely nice! Our cab driver found Rootie’s sweater in his car, and he brought it to her while we were checking in. Our hotel, Sosua by the Sea, is right on the beach. I look forward to exploring tomorrow afternoon. For the immediate future we had a challenge with the A/C in our room. After an hour, it hadn’t cooled and eventually we realized, while the fan was blowing, no air was coming through the vent!

We planned on melting through the night, but called to have someone fix the problem tomorrow. The staff was extremely attentive and a worker was knocking at the door in a few minutes! They ended up carrying all our unpacked items to another room! We enjoyed a cool, deep sleep night until 5 am when an alarm began beeping in the hallway. Thanks to Rootie’s and the staff’s efficiency, the beep was gone in a few minutes.

I suspect, so far, this sounds like a dumpy hotel and several complaints. Frankly it didn’t really bother me, as the staff is fantastic! And who can complain about a hotel right on the beach, with beautiful views, a great buffet breakfast, and a nice pool area! It was just a short night! Continue reading “Fire Worms, Scorpion Fish and More….SCUBA Diving Sosua, Dominican Republic” →